Greetings from Japan Options

[FrankMkII]

Hi everyone,
I'm a recent (but very happy) 1994 SS-II owner from Canada but currently living in Kumamoto prefecture in southern Japan. I used to drive one of those tiny K-cars but last summer I decided that it was time for me to get a real car. I wanted to get myself an integra or an mr-2 at first but when I stumbled upon that celica here I knew she had to be mine. I've been happily driving it to work and on some crazy expeditions on Japan's winding mountain roads ever since. I don't really know much about mechanics, tuning and such (yet) but every time I get in my car I can hear her whispering "make me beautiful, make me powerful", so eventually I'd like to learn and try some myself one day. I don't really have serious money to spend on tuning and upgrades just yet. Nor do I have a place to work on the car and store parts (living in a small country town in a japanese-sized apartment will do that)... but hopefully that'll change one day!
Anyway, just wanted to say hi to everyone!

This post has been edited by FrankMkII: Oct 21, 2008 - 1:02 AM

[parriehunter]

Welcome. I would love to drive those japanese mountain passes.

[azian_advanced]

x2 hell yeah i'd love to be able to put my suspension work to the test...

small apts tell me about it.. i had a cousin and aunt that lived in yokohama, i stayed for just one night but man, talk about small apts...
what are you doing all the way in japan? are you there for business?

and welcome to the forums.

[malpaso]

Welcome to the forum. I hope one day I would post the same message as you That means: hi I'm in Japan and will live there for a while...

[RickJamesBish]

I think being in Japan for a while would be sweet...

Welcome. Post pics.

[FrankMkII]

I'm currently in Japan as part of the JET programme, perhaps you've heard of it? It's a program through which the Japanese government hires young uni graduates from English-speaking countries to work in schools and assist with English education. It's a so-so job but it got me in Japan which is what I wanted =).
Driving in the mountains is fun for the scenery and all, but it's not all like Initial D. Most touges are really narrow and poorly maintained, and a lot of them don't even have guardrails.
I know "hashiriya" spots on the roads around where I live, the most famous probably being Mt. Aso which has a long stretch of touge road called the Milk road that's pretty popular.
On a side note I have a pretty decent Japanese level so if anyone needs help for ordering stuff from Japan or whatever, I'll be more than happy to help out.

[TRD_Ian]

welcome aboard...were abouts from canada are u from??
p.s get a good cam and go to town snapin pics of girls/cars/mountain passes lol

[parriehunter]

TRD_Ian Posted Today, 12:43 AM
welcome aboard...were abouts from canada are u from??
p.s get a good cam and go to town snapin pics of girls/cars/mountain passes lol

I agree with that one.

[FrankMkII]

As requested here are some pictures of my ride. No customization or anything, but I try to keep her clean and shiny. It's nothing special and the quality of the pictures is nothing to write home about but hey... enjoy!
I'm from Québec by the way.
By the way, if I may add a newb question... When I bought my ss-II, my mechanic told me it didn't really matter if I put hi-octane or regular gasoline in it. Then some people told me I should NOT put hi-octane in it... and now I've heard people tell me that I should... The people on this forum seem to know their stuff so I thought I'd ask here as well...

And while I'm at it, everyone on the forum seems to know their stuff about mechanics and tuning... I am still a neophyte, so if anyone has books, magazines, websites or anything they'd recommend for someone who wants to learn, please!

Thanks in advance!



My Celica. Nothing special yet, but she gets me where I want to go fast and in style.


That monster exhaust was already fitted when I bought her. It has earned me the respect of my students and the ire of my co-workers =)


That's a picture I took in the mountains.


Told you some of these roads are narrow!


And I stopped to take a picture of the sunset on the way home.

Sorry for the clutter... It's still pretty warm here in Kumamoto so next week I'll try to take some girls to the beach so I can get some nicer pictures =P

[parriehunter]

OMG. I love the look of that road.

Can't wait for the next pics

Your car looks nice and clean BTW.

Also I run 95 in my 3s. My sister filled it up 91 when she borrowed it and I have noticed that the fuel economy is less and the response is not as good. I didn't find out she put 91 in until after I got the car back and drove it for a couple of days. I cant complain tho she filled it up for me .

This post has been edited by parriehunter: Oct 23, 2008 - 9:10 PM

[bccentaur3]

Thats my dream place to visit. Japan. You actually have a nice celica with the lip and rear splitter on your celica.

BTW welcome to the site and what about the pics of the pretty girls?

[delusionz]

Also I run 95 in my 3s. My sister filled it up 91 when she borrowed it and I have noticed that the fuel economy is less and the response is not as good. I didn't find out she put 91 in until after I got the car back and drove it for a couple of days. I cant complain tho she filled it up for me .

He's right, and the JDM 3S-GE loves high octane!! fill up with the highest you can get, in NZ that's 98RON, which I think is equiv to USA 95 or 93 or whatever.

I've also noticed you get less kilometers on lower octane (even with the extra splash more you get for the same price it still gives you less driving), the car hesitates to rev from the lower rpms and the higher rpm powerband doesn't come on as strong, acis changeover is less brutal.

The difference in NZ with the JDM 3S-GE between 91 and 95 is very big, but I'm even a sucker for BP Ultimate 98 octane which I think my motor is even more responsive yet (esp on partial throttle) than with Shell V-Power 95 octane, Although 95 is still very peppy.

[RickJamesBish]

Beautiful looking car. I still think the JDM tails are one of the best mods for our cars.

[808celica]

My Celica. Nothing special yet, but she gets me where I want to go fast and in style.


That monster exhaust was already fitted when I bought her. It has earned me the respect of my students and the ire of my co-workers =)


That's a picture I took in the mountains.


Told you some of these roads are narrow!


And I stopped to take a picture of the sunset on the way home.

Sorry for the clutter... It's still pretty warm here in Kumamoto so next week I'll try to take some girls to the beach so I can get some nicer pictures =P

DUDE I WANT THAT LIP!! anyway you can get that replicated???

[tomazws]

I assume that narrow road is 1-way?

Very nice car! Love that lip

[RickJamesBish]

I wouldn't doubt that road being two-way, I've seen worse...

[Euphoria]

As requested here are some pictures of my ride. No customization or anything, but I try to keep her clean and shiny. It's nothing special and the quality of the pictures is nothing to write home about but hey... enjoy!
I'm from Québec by the way.
By the way, if I may add a newb question... When I bought my ss-II, my mechanic told me it didn't really matter if I put hi-octane or regular gasoline in it. Then some people told me I should NOT put hi-octane in it... and now I've heard people tell me that I should... The people on this forum seem to know their stuff so I thought I'd ask here as well...

And while I'm at it, everyone on the forum seems to know their stuff about mechanics and tuning... I am still a neophyte, so if anyone has books, magazines, websites or anything they'd recommend for someone who wants to learn, please!

Thanks in advance!

Very simple mods that wouldn't really give out all that much power but make the car sound fantastic is a cold air intake and an exhaust system, you can get it from cat converter back which wouldn't add power but makes it sound nicer, or a full system with headers which would add power.

for the petrol question, what do you mean by higher octane? here in Australia we have 91,95 and 98 along with 102 for racing fuel or something similar, best to use 95 or 98 but I don't know what they'd call them over there, just try them see if there is any difference in fuel consumption or power.

[Lil-Joe101]

Welcome I wish we had the mainland mountains in here in Oki, Lucky, lucky, lucky

[alaNi]

Nice car

[Urputus]

Wellcome to the forum and thanks for the pictures. I like the one with your celi in the mountains.
What's the make of the exhaust?